Personal Assistant

Chapter 4

Lunch was awkwardly quiet. Neither of us said much. I said random comments about work, the food, even the weather but nothing was sparking conversation with this man! Just a moment ago he was fine and flirty and now he's stiff and silent. I'm starting to dislike his bipolar behavior. Justin paid and led us out of the restaurant...still not talking.

The rest of the day was like this, silent and awkward. At some point during the day, he even closed the curtains to his office so I could no longer see him. I'll admit though, It was easier to get some work done without the constant view of Justin. He could be quite the distraction. I convinced myself that this was all a tease. Justin was doing this on purpose. All of a sudden giving me the cold shoulder. I hadn't exactly acted too eager to go out with him the past few times he'd ask. Maybe this was his way of showing me he could play hard to get. What he doesn't realize is that I happen to be very good at this little tease game. If the only way to win was to play dirty then... game on Mr. Bieber.

I marched into his office classy and confident. He spun his chair around, slightly shocked and irritated that someone just barged into his office unannounced. His eyes seemed to ease once he realized it was just me, but he tensed up once again just as quickly. "Can I help you, Alexandra?" he spoke so calm and relaxed I couldn't even stop staring. "Miss Reed...? Did you need something or did you just come into my office without knocking for fun?" I slighted blushed and looked down in embarrassment. Confidence Alex. That's how you play the game. "Um yes, sorry to interutpt you but I had some questions for you?" He motioned for me to contiune even though he turned around to continue typing as he listened. "I just recieved the new information from Compass Press across town. They seem to be expecting a huge boom of clients this year... maybe even more that BPC. I was just wondering what your thoughts, or concerns were." He was silent for a while and then the typing stopped. "Hmm.. I doubt such a small local company could possibly surpass a company like mine. However, if you are still so concered yourself, maybe we could sit down this evening after hours and discuss some new ideas." "Actually, that's why I came now, I have a previous engagement to attend to this evening, Mr. Bieber. Surely you could understand that I've already given my word to attend." He sighed and spun his chair back around. "Of course I can understand keeping your promises. Although, I figured if you were so worried about a competitive company, you would be willing to discuss the matter at any given time." I could tell by his tone he was not understanding about me having plans tonight. It's a good thing me having plans is just a lie to grab his attention. "Absolutely. I guess I could just reschedule my plans for this evening to later this week, perhaps Saturday night instead. I will meet you in your office later. I'll just go tell Blake that I can't make it tonight and I-" "Blake?" I faked a confused look. "Yes.. Blake Steele, my boss, before you."

"Yes I know who he is. I just didn't expect you to keep in touch after he left."

"Well we did. We close actually. I've been out with him several times before. Completely casual of course."

"I'm sorry to ruin your plans tonight Miss Reed."

"Oh no, it's fine Mr. Bieber. He'll understand my rescheduling. Work always comes before personal relations."

"Yes... yes it does."

There was a softness in his eyes I had never seen before. He looked almost upset about something. As I turned to leave his office, I made sure to gently toss my hair over my shoulder and sway my hips slightly side to side as I left. I walked back to my office and sat down at my computer. Obviously, me telling him how close Blake and I are was a bit of an exaggeration. With it being Friday, if I accepted Blake's offer to dinner tomorrow, I wouldn't be lying to Justin about seeing him. I don;t know if I could last an entire evening with my ex boss, though...